glory

Nevermind.

I don't know what it would cost to get him, but wouldn't surprise me if the Jays traded for Jacob Young (who is apparently a trade candidate for the Nats). Basically a Straw-ish profile except he can hit LHP (at least in 2026) and is still young with control left. Between him and Bateman, it wouldn't be the best offensive CF, but probably good enough with great defense and base running.

Yeah that's where I am on this one. If cancelling him gets him off the roster, then I'm all for it. You're paying him anyway, and the majority of that money is going to be after he's retired. If the options are 1) pay him and have him hijack a roster spot to try to extract any value out of him, or 2) pay him to go away which will result in opening up a roster spot for someone possibly significantly better, then I'm taking option 2 in a second. I guess option 3 would be taking a massive contract in a trade (ex. Seager) and insisting the Rangers take Taters instead of eating money. Whatever. Put Keys at DH, or sign Taylor Ward and put him at DH. There are ways to improve the roster that don't involve hoping this man 1) actually plays, and 2) is above replacement level if he does (at 32 after two lost seasons and injuries, it's very possible that he's cooked).

I'm not sure if the Jays would avoid any qualified FA's (essentially, Seiya Suzuki). I wouldn't be against it necessarily if their plan is to start prioritizing building the farm back up and figure out how to balance competing with adding to the system, but the distance in impact between Suzuki and the next best non-qualified position player is probably significant. The Jays want the gravy train (attendance) to keep rolling, and Suzuki is their best shot on the offensive side to make a meaningful difference. I don't think they pass that up to save draft 2 picks, although who the heck knows what the 2027 draft will even look like with the CBA uncertainty. Now, if they are bullish on Sato, then maybe that changes the equation. The only other qualified FA that I think they'd be interested in is Morejon and possibly Randy. I'd be fine with Morejon, but Randy would scare me a bit.

This org lives and breathes on optics. If this trends even a little bit in Canada, and enough people apply pressure, then Tony is probably a goner. Honestly, he's a one trick pony who has missed essentially two seasons in his 30's with a shoulder issue that might impact the only skill he has (home runs/bat speed). Dude getting cancelled probably helps the team next season and beyond.

Yeah I'm starting to come around on the idea of Morejon with the intention of starting him. It's a gamble given that he's been a reliever the past few years but he might be the best combination of age, upside, and value on the pitching side. Comes with a QO though, which shouldn't deter a team, but has to be factored in.

Made the cheapest owner in sports have to pay up. They don't call him Boss Atkins for nothing.

Yeah it might just be that they got screwed with the Grisham QO last year thinking he'd decline it and didn't want to revisit that. Hal isn't george. That $20M+ they gave to Grisham could not be spent elsewhere last year. I think that's the main reason. They didn't want Jazz to accept it. If they were certain he would decline it then I think they would have offered it. But who knows the real answer. The Yankees also have their golden boy Volpe available for 2B, so they might have just wanted a clear path to go that route.

I definitely see at least one trade for a controllable position player. Could be for a 2B, CF, LF, who knows, but it will be someone, IMO. Can't fill all your weaknesses with free agency, and there's no help coming from the system aside from a DH/1B who is probably trade bait on this roster (Keys). Jacob Young and Steven Kwan are the most Ross Atkins trade targets I can think of, though Kwan only has a year left. With Bolte turning into a quality CF for the A's, maybe they move Clarke, who the Jays can replace Straw with. Super low floor offensively, but great defense, base running, and has bat speed. Maybe there's something that can be unlocked. My guess is Suzuki is the player the Jays will go all in on in free agency. That's the big fish and everyone else will be less significant in name value.

No QO for Jazz. If you can stomach the ego/attitude, he really is the best fit for the Jays, especially given the alternatives. If they don't go for Jazz (and they probably won't) then I'd have no issues with a short-term deal for someone like Gleyber. No sense spending big money/years in a weak market unless you're getting big time upside.

The Guardians are on the hook for Straw’s buyout, so picking up that option would have been foolish. Either bring him back now for much less than $8M or move on.

From my memory there was quite a bit of action prior to the last lockout, but it was a better FA market as well. Not sure the same urgency will exist to sign this year's crop aside from Skubal, especially since the owners last time around were not asking for a salary cap. This time they are, so the economics are potentially a lot different. My guess is Skubal will sign before the lockout to maximize his dollars (either the new CBA will have a cap or more likely stricter CBT penalties so Skubal doesn't really benefit by waiting it out). Besides him, Suzuki, the Japanese players being posted, it's tough to gauge what will happen.

Unfortunately there’s no way to add a floor without a cap, so in the current system you’re bound to have owners who only look ownership as an investment rather than prioritizing winning. The main reason owners want a salary cap is to increase franchise values, so they’d have no issues with a high salary floor if the revenue split caused their values to rise regardless. A salary cap system is unfortunately the only way you’ll see teams like the Marlins and Guardians actually spend money. I think we will see baseball in 2027. However, I’d say the chances of 162 games is practically zero. We almost saw games being missed 5 years ago during the last lockout and a salary cap wasn’t even on the table then. No way either side caves in time to start 2027 on time with a divide this big. My guess, we lose 60 games at the most. The Athletic mentioned that the current MLB media deal (which expires after 2028) would automatically be extended one extra year if they miss more than 60 games. Owners do not want that, especially with the NFL media rights being up around the same time. So I’ll say we get a Memorial Day Opening Day, with at least 103 games being played. If enough owners actually don’t mind losing a season for a cap, then man, that would really suck for the sport/league.

If Bichette opted out of $42M (and another $42M player option the following year) in order to hit the free agent market a month before a lockout, then firing his agent would have been mandatory. Although if there’s one thing Bo is better at than making contact, it seems to be money, or at least maximizing it. He had no issues backing out of an (apparent) agreement with the Phillies to take the bigger AAV in New York. No way he was ever opting out of this contract with the season he had. I think the Jays washed their hands of Bo a long time ago. I doubt bringing him back is even a thought in their minds, without even factoring the $42M option for 2028 (which makes him practically unmovable unless to Mets agree to eat up a chunk of next year’s money too).

Yeah while I think he’s the best FA 2B option, I don’t expect the FO to want to sign him for that reason.

I’m not sure what the realistic trade options are, but I’m definitely on the Jazz bandwagon in free agency. Far more likely to reach or exceed his 2026 numbers than Lowe or Arraez, IMO. If the Yankees don’t qualify him then it becomes more of a no brainer. I wouldn’t give him a 4-5 year deal but I don’t think he’d get one anyway in the current market. Real potential for a buy low steal here (short term).

Yeah if I recall November before the last lockout was very active. Hopefully the Brewers end it tonight and we can get on to the off season. I know we won't have baseball for at least 4 months (maybe more if the owners/PA end up torpedoing the league's momentum with a lockout that extends through March), but let the Brewers end this tonight, celebrate a much deserved title, and then we head to the hot stove.

Yeah I think the FA 2B class is more quantity than quality. The players aren’t bad but not needle movers or guys I’d trust long term. It’s possible the best solution for 2B might be a trade. The Jays kinda need some arb or pre-arb players on the position player side. Abrams, Edwards, Neto, etc, are some IF’ers who might be available. Not sure the Jays have the expendable prospect depth to make big trades but it might be their best option.

Jazz comes off as more of a Stroman type to me (overconfident, ego, sees himself as a “brand”, etc) rather than someone who is a clubhouse cancer. Impossible to know for sure but he’d be one guy in a clubhouse that is otherwise fairly reserved (by design). Might be worth a shot if the contract is short. The 2026 Jays had a lot of vetrin presents and still sucked. They need to prioritize talent at this point. Whether Jazz is the right guy depends on what the other options are. With that said, I don’t expect this FO to go after him for the reasons above (ego, etc). I really don’t like the other options long term (Lowe, Arraez), and Jazz seems like a potential 1+1 option, which is far more appealing, but let’s see what their plan is.

At that contract, I'd go for Jazz Chisholm without hesitating.

The Guardians aren’t an ALCS team much less a World Series team with that roster. Pulling for them here but the Rays are clearly the better team and the better opponent for the Brewers. The AL was so bad this year.

Yeah I find everything about the Guardians incredibly boring, but at least their fans will sell out World Series games. I don't think there's a fanbase and stadium in baseball that deserves a World Series appearance less than the Rays fanbase and the Trop respectively.

This Brewers team is fun and easy to root for. The crowd pops in Milwaukee for the World Series should be epic. There’s going to be a lot of talk about a salary cap in the coming months but there’s something romantic about baseball when stuff like this happens. No other sport has this level of disparity in payroll so they’ll never get the true David vs Goliath moments like this. A well run small market/payroll team taking down a monster with FU money is more fun than if there was a cap and both teams were spending the same amount on players.

No chance any candidate with options would consider a job with an expensive aging core on the decline and a s***** farm system. They had no choice, really.

One win away from seeing the Brewers vs either the Rays and Guardians in the World Series, one month before the sport shuts down in hopes of getting a salary cap in order to assist with “competitive balance” and payroll disparity. Baseball Gods definitely had a hand in this one.